Today the Church in Canada celebrates the Optional Memorial of Blessed Marie-Anne Blondin (1809-1890), the foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne. Her work established universal education, so that there was a standard for both boys and girls, and men and women could teach both. She suffered greatly from persecution from the order's chaplain and from within the order, but remained humble and dedicated to God's work, instead of pushing back to be prominent in leadership. She died of natural causes at the age of 81 and was beatified on April 29, 2001 by Pope St. John Paul II.